Photo by Tori Siperly

When we first met Cold Gawd back in 2022 on the heels of the band’s breakthrough sophomore effort, God Get Me the Fuck Out of Here, frontman Matthew Wainwright had already professed his ambitions as being a thing of exploring multitudes through the shoegaze window, embedding influences of hardcore, metal, R&B, hip-hop and everything in between within. Nothing that the Bay Area band has produced since has fallen short of that notion. “Grease” is a whole other beast from the Rancho Cucamonga collective.

As the first preview from the quintet’s forthcoming EP, Glory2, we’re hearing them at their most creatively collaborative as a unit as well as recharged by perspective coming off a long time on the road. The results roar to the forefront, with a fury of screams outweighing vacant dissonance, and heavier weights stacking atop of muscular riffs giving the listen a push that moves their sound forward. “Brief joy found in praise,” Wainwright sings. “It meant nothing.” They’re fully in it under their own rules and for all of the right reasons this time around, and it shows through the realization exploding through their sound.

Cold Gawd’s Glory2 will be released August 28th on Dais Records.